The new documents show that spreading election falsehoods is “incredibly lucrative,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of the watchdog organization Documented, which scrutinizes the activities of nonprofits and corporations and also obtained the tax filings.But the filings, the organization’s Form 990 and related attachments submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, reveal “almost nothing about where the nonprofit’s millions in reported legal expenses are flowing,” he said.In a text message Thursday, Byrne said he was only involved with the nonprofit for 12 business days and emphasized that concern about the organization’s financial management was a reason for his and others’ departures.Dominion has accused Powell of using Defending the Republic dollars to “fund her own personal legal defense,” citing an interview she gave on Dec. 29, 2020, in which she described the organization as a “nonprofit that is working to help me defend all these cases and to defend me now that I’m under massive attack.” In an August 2021 deposition for a separate defamation case, one filed by a former Dominion executive, a representative of Defending the Republic was asked whether the organization was paying to defend Powell against either lawsuit.The filings show that Defending the Republic gave a $700,128 cash grant for equipment to Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based company that Republican senators in Arizona hired to examine voting machines and ballots in Maricopa County."